Five Females in Development That'll Inspire You

Overview

The tale is as old as the gaming industry itself, and is completely overplayed: the lack of respectable female roles in games. No, not the character kind – the developer kind. Because, honestly, there’s way more men in development than there are women. And when a woman says she’s a developer, people tend to assume she makes pretty drawings and follows orders well.

Only, that’s not really the case, is it? There’s a ton of strong females in the industry who not only create art, but direct the art as well. Yes, there might be few, compared to the men, but they can definitely hang with the boys for a reason!

Best known for revamping the Tomb Raider series, Rhianna Pratchett is the prime example of strong females in the industry. She was born into good writing and a keen sense of creativity. Her father, Terry Pratchett was the author of the Discworld book series, composed of 41 novels.

She’s worked on Heavenly Sword and Mirror’s Edge, as well, which of course, all have a common theme: strong female protagonists. However, she’s not all about just girl power. Prince of Persia, Bioshock Infinite, Thief, and Risen are all on her project list, among many others.

The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, however, as she also writes comics. The Mirror’s Edge series is one, but she’s also responsible for Tomb Raider: The Beginning, published by Dark Horse Comics.

Just last year, she walked out of Bioware and hung her developer robes at the door, leaving the industry as a whole. Although there is no official statement explaining the bold move, it is clear that the work she left behind will always be a testament to her abilities, and achievements.

She currently still resides in Montreal, but is looking to transition back to the U.S. and seek new opportunities in another line of work.

Best known for her work on the Uncharted series, no one ever thought Amy Hennig would leave Naughty Dog. This game director and scriptwriter has worked for Nintendo, Crystal Dynamics, and now for Visceral Games.

Jak and Daxter, the Legacy of Kain series, and the Uncharted series are some of her better known projects, but she is currently working on Star Wars with Todd Stashwick.

She’s made such an impact with her stories that she’s been named one of the most influential women in the gaming industry by Edge Magazine. When players think of Uncharted, they think of her portrayal of Nathan Drake, and the intricate storytelling that made him such an iconic video game character.

DeMarle, the Deus Ex queen, has done many talks on women in the industry, as well as the importance of writers. She’s worked on famous projects, such as the Myst series, and Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Apart from her work as a Narrative Designer, she also has experience working on film writing, having worked with Hollywood scriptwriters. This is pretty evident when playing games she’s worked on, as the dialogue always has an immersion effect that would make any Creative Director grin like a young boy.

If you loved Journey, Santiago might be your God. This Venezuelan-American game developer is both a designer and producer, as well as the co-founder and former president of thatgamecompany. She also created Flow and Flower.

Yes, it seems having a software engineer father pays off! He encouraged her to learn anything she could about computers, and play countless video games growing up. Now that’s parenting!

After the release of Journey, Santiago left the company to pursue other challenges. She currently works for Google Play Games.

Kellee Santiago (Source: Wikipedia, Creative Commons).

Summary

That’s right, that’s just five female developers, out of the countless examples we could have chosen. Combined, these five women have completed well over 30 games. Each of these developers is respected, talented, accomplished and goal-oriented enough to get things done. Whether or not they decided to walk away from the work, everyone can agree that these games wouldn’t be what they are if it wasn’t for them.

So next time you get overlooked due to your gender, remember: females are just as capable as the men. Whatever you decide to work on, the effort will be two-fold, to earn your rightful place. But once you do, you’ll be indispensable.